Grove to Be Gone

On June 2, UCSD's Associated Students Council voted to close the student-run Grove, the oldest café and first to sell espresso drinks on campus.

The Grove is part of the Office of Enterprise Operations, dedicated to serving as an “advocacy body for student entrepreneurial efforts,” according to the A.S. standing rules. According to The Guardian, UCSD’s student-run newspaper, the Grove will officially close on June 30 after 24 years of operation.

The café has amassed nearly $180,000 in debt, reportedly due to increased competition. Multiple renovations and marketing campaigns have failed to generate enough sales to cover daily operating expenses.

Former A.S. president Utsav Gupta criticized the way the council came to the decision to close the café: “There was no public input offered through public forums. I doubt anyone who worked at the Grove was notified, and there was no committee process to review the fiscal performance of the Grove.”

The council has drafted an A.S. Store charter, detailing plans to open a new retail outlet (probably not at the same site occupied by the café). The store will sell Greek wear, clothes, books, school supplies, and merchandise featuring popular A.S.-sponsored events such as the Sun God Festival. The new store will compete against the UCSD Bookstore, which already sells UCSD apparel, merchandise, and school supplies.